permanent personality changes after heart bypass?

I have had severe mood swings since my bypass surgery in 2003. I seem to be getting worse as time goes on. I have read about pumphead or (personality changes) after this surgery. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this? I have other health issues that can cause this, like hypothyroidism and depression. But I haven't been the same since the surgery. Any response would be appreciated. Thank You!

Hi my name is Kenneth. I have had bypass surgery and 5 stynts. Yes it most certainly changes you. I have been a power lineman for most of my life. Working for contractors it has been hard and fast paced work, thus giving me a get up and go attitude. This all started about two years ago and I have been battling trying to work and the depression along with having to accept that there just some things you can't do any more. There are days when I almost feel normal mentally and physically and there are days that I tire very easily and sometimes I am angry and grouchy about it and sometimes I am angry and grouchy without really knowing why. Some days I am really depressed and at one time was going through crying spells , I mean uncontrollable sobbing, and could not put a finger on why. I would often have to walk away from the others as this was very embarrising. Sometimes I seem on top of things and other days I seem abscent minded and very forgetful. I have talked with my doctor and he seems to think some of it was meds. He told me to trystopping certain meds one at a time for a week at a time and see how I felt. I found that some of my hypertension meds and cholesterol meds where some of the problem. As suggested above talk to your doctor, tell him exactly what is going on and your concerns and let him know you are looking for a better quality of life. I am really glad to have found this site and hope this has been of some help to you ' Kenneth

aintright,

Welcome to HealingWell and thank you so much for sharing your story.  I have not had any heart surgery but do deal with depression and anxiety so I understand how you feel.  I was recently started on a statin medication for high cholesterol and noticed a huge jump in my depression symptoms - after some research I discovered the medication may cause depression or excerbation of existing depression. 

I think your Dr. may have a good idea in looking to see if your meds may be causing some of you symptoms.

bodtec66

A warm welcome to you and high fives for your Mother - she is now a baseball fan and is enjoying life which is so awesome.  I can picture your Dad grinning. She must have received the heart of one great and giving person. 

Thank you for spreading sunshine in our lives by sharing your story.

Kindly,

Kitt 

 

Thank You Kitt for your welcome! I very much appreciate that. I am so happy to have found a forum that I can find support and give support as well. What a blessing.

Kenneth, I totally understand. I have had my plate full with heart disease for some 35 years. I fully understand how it can make a persons mood and personality take a roller coaster ride once in a while.

I have had heart disease since I lost my sister to it at her age of 13 back in 1974 when I was 7, so I have had more emotional rollercoaster rides than I could ever count, but I learned some 7-8 years ago to control the issues (anxiety-depression) instead of them controlling me. Now...the ride is not a roller coaster as it has been for so long, just a bumpy road from time to time. :) Best wishes to you.

I've been married for 37 yrs. the first 20 were wonderful, we were best friends. Then at age 37 my husband had a heart attack. At age 40 he had a 5-way bypass. My husband literally went in one person and came out another. He went from a loving easy going guy to an absolute monster. That's been almost 20 years ago and I've gone through hell and back. What was really frustrating was that I was so confused about what was going on. I tried so many different avenues for answers and nobody had any answers for me. I asked our GP in personality changes were normal after heart surgery. He said he'd never heard of it, dismissed the whole thing as me being overly emotional. It's a very long story, but to make it short, my life was ruined by his heart surgery. All the so-called 'experts' were no help whatsoever, and acted like they'd never heard of it, even though personality changes after heart surgery have been well documented. A lot of the time they get better, so get some help and hang in there. I hope things work out well for you.

My spouse had a bypass 4 yrs. ago after a massive heart attack. He's basically a monster now. Goes off at the drop of a  hat--abusive nearly every day. He blames me for his moods and lack of emotional control. I can't even remember him before the bypass. I do remember he wasn't like this! I guess the lesson I've learned is not to ever get married again; I'm at the breaking point. No therapist could help him, meds maybe. But, if I mention it at the doc's office, I'm sure he'll fly into a rage after. I'm sorry to say, but I truly wonder why God didn't just take him then? The medical profession "saves" lives, but destroys the person and family in the process. And this coming from an RN.

It happens sometimes, but it doesn't have to happen. A friend of mine just had an aortic valve replaced nine months ago without any outward personality changes. On he other hand a cousin of mine had bypass surgery on two separate occasions and afterward he was a serious PIA. To be completely honest though he wasn't much fun to be around before his surgeries.
I'm facing an aneurysm repair soon. Not much choice, fix it or die from it. I do not think that I will change for the worst. Medications could be part of the problem. I have noticed that since my cardiologist added Lopressor to my meds that numbers make less sense and I have to concentrate a little harder to count out change.

Greetings...

I had a heart attack and four way bypass in 1999 at age 42.  I had two "cardiac interventions" (felt real bad the previous week working out on treadmill which I did three times a week at gym and had for a long time.)

I did get physical rehab after surgery, no mental counseling at all.  Was on beta blockers but stopped after a few weeks due to side effects.  I can tell you the surgery changed my personality.  I lost a lot of memories, especially early childhood, that was immediate, and some not to distant ones.  Just gone, vacations we were on as a family, I had no clue we ever went on them when they were brought up a month after surgery. (still don't).

Worse, I am quick to temper, I used to do many things that required a lot of patience, but no more, very little patience.  (God bless my wife) Hard for me to sit through a movie.  I am very emotional, very.  A commercial showing the American Flag and a child saluting it will make me choke up, getting an award at work and I cannot speak choked up.  I REFUSE to watch emotional roller coaster movies, or violent movies.  DISNEY is my friend, although I loved cartoons before.  The very limit of violence I can handle  in movies, and it is very hard is the Lord of RING series.  I can be distracted easily, but I work at that so I can focus and get by it.  (I do have to work).  Depression hits sometimes, and some days I feel like I am going through the motions.  Am on Welbrutin but not helping I dont think.  Am on Statins for cholestrial.

Suffer from headaches all the time, take topomax for that.  It does impact your emotional balance.

Now, I clearly understand that if I have lack of circulation in the heart, most likely have it in brain, so will have memory issues, and maybe mood issues.  However, these were immediate after surgery.

Mental health issues, need attention....such as this.  Heart lung machine?  The enzimes that indicate a heart attack? What is it?   My father, same way.......exactly.

RayCfla

had heart valve rep 7 yrs ago, find myself more emotional about things and more chilled if that makes sense,

double by-pass. it has actually got me moving.first attempt surgery an induction drug caused anaphalaxis. code was called. 2 weeks later second go was successful but ended up in icu, from just coming out with breathing difficulties and was reintubated, went into renal failure and i believe inotropic failure. something like that. just had another bladder surgery as i was having breathing difficulities in recovery and reintubated. recent obstructive sleep apnea rem hyperventilation. cpap a bit over a month. realing helping. with the heart surgery spent 32 days in there. was a mess. stopped smoking, eat good etc.

I posted this on a different link about Postperfusion Syndrome. This link has more activity so I thought I'd try it. My answers below are to the questions a member posted for me.

Is this 'pumphead'?
This is a bit of what I have read about Pumphead: Postperfusion syndrome, also known as "pumphead", is a constellation of neurocognitive impairments attributed to cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) during cardiac surgery. Symptoms of postperfusion syndrome are subtle and include defects associated with attention, concentration, short term memory, fine motor function, and speed of mental and motor responses. Studies have shown a high incidence of neurocognitive deficit soon after surgery, but the deficits are often transient with no permanent neurological impairment.

I since have been told that in larger cities at better hospitals the caregivers are "coached" about the possibilities after returning home after CABG. I brought my husband home from the hospital twice "cold turkey" and I struggled with frustration about his reluctance to get up and move. I still don't have any answers. Just keep hearing "it will take time". We are now 7 weeks out and he is the same if even slightly worse than the first hospital release day. He has been in a skilled nursing facility for the last two weeks and is making very little progress.

Is the congestive heart failure under control, is the clot in his leg resolved?
CHF is controlled by Lasix every other day rotation if 20mg-40mg
Clot is being treated with Warfarin blood thinner depending on the INR results.

Was the CABGx4 elective or an emergency procedure?
Emergency procedure after 4 days in ICU to stabilize his blood platelets, fluid in lungs and kidney function. All were treated as well as possible. He had been treated for who know what, pneumonia, bronchitis?? with antibiotics from urgent care the whole month before he ended up in the ER because he was coughing up blood. Really bad calls. Doctors said he probably was having silent heart attacks that whole month.

Did he have AFib prior to surgery?
No history of AFib until he was in ICU. The day before surgery the surgeon explained the need for the Cox Maze procedure.

Did he have an MI prior to surgery? Did you mean MRI? If so the answer is no.

Did he have longstanding angina or was this all 'out of the blue'?
No angina. He was a walking time bomb. Doctors referred to his blockage as a widow maker. He resisted taking blood pressure meds for the past 5 years because he didn't like the way he felt after taking them. At his last visit to his primary doctor prior to heart attack, it was agreed that if he monitored his BP and it stayed below the normal 135/85, he didn't need to take the BP med. It had been in the 120's for two months. He was prescribed thyroid medication but didn't refill the prescription out if neglect. Those are the only two prescriptions my husband has ever been on. He was told he could treat his borderline diabetics and cholesterol with diet and activity.

Was he active prior to surgery?
My husband worked hard all day, every day on our 15 acre property. He cut and split 4 cords of oak every year for the past 12 years. Bucked hay bales for our small herd of sheep. Mowed an acre of grass.
He has never smoked, had a drop of alcohol, or taken any drugs. Now he is taking:
75mcg Levothyroxine for thyroid
200mg Amiodarone fit Arrythmias only if his BP is above 110 (it rarely has been)
20-40mg Lasix
12.5mg Metoprolol twice a day -Beta blocker if BP is above 120
40mg Atorvastatin for Lipitor
20mg Potassium Chloride
Warfarin as prescribed from INR -for blood thinning
Vit C, prenatal vit for iron
40mg Pantipraxole - acid reflux for all the meds
150mg Bupropion for depression
15mg Restoril -sleeping pill
5mg-325 Norco for pain which he hasn't had but requests for sleep
Klonopin (on hold because it will make him even more lethargic) for anxiety
His severe anxiety and depression after surgery is leaving me baffled. Is it pumphead or his reaction to all the meds. Will taking the anxiety med help?

Does anyone know about a natural alternative to help with pumped backward due to heart bypass surgery?

Does anyone know about a natural solution to help with pumped backard OR any kind of help for this?

Please let me know as I need help with the side effects of this horrible thing.

Thank you much.

mary

I wanted to update since I last posted years ago. My husband's symptoms have actually gotten better. There is hope! After his bypass, I'd say maybe 2-3 years after the surgery were the worst. Looking back, his symptoms were a general grouchiness, quick to temper, lack of patience and feeling overwhelmed when presented w/ anything out of the ordinary and more sullen. I used to call them his "temper tantrums."

I'd say his symptoms are over 50 % improved, maybe more, even 60-75 %, from the worst of it, but it took maybe 5 years to see that much improvement. He gets overwhelmed more quickly, yes, but his temper is much better and grouchiness improved. I think I had a talk w/ him at the worst of it and told him he was acting really crazy and needed to control his temper and outbursts. He seemed to start to understand and started working on his behavior. Life coaching?

He takes a fair amount of vitamins and supplements, too, and we eat extremely healthy. He exercises a lot, too.

I wouldn't want him on meds. I think time and patience for all involved. Maybe short term psychotherapy would have helped looking back. Families have to know things are different, but things can improve, too. It takes time to heal--on all levels. Hang in there and don't give up!

Post Edited (Nancee888) : 5/31/2017 6:55:41 AM (GMT-6)